


Once Bitten

by MYuzuki



Series: NRPS Autumn Spookfest 2019 [4]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, M/M, Magic, Werewolves, if anyone thinks of any additional tags I should add please let me know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-12-09 06:34:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20990435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MYuzuki/pseuds/MYuzuki
Summary: Cursed by a sorcerer, Kakashi has been trapped in his wolf shape for four years and honestly isn’t sure if he’ll ever be able to take his human form again.Then a mage named Shisui wanders into the haunted woods.(Written for the Autumn Spook Fest 2019 event hosted by @naruto-rare-pair-support, for the prompt Once Bitten.)





	Once Bitten

**Once Bitten**

* * *

Kakashi has spent so long walking around on four legs with a shaggy fur coat that he's starting to wonder if he'll ever get his human form back at all.

Since it's been over five years since he was first bitten and turned into a werewolf, and four years since he was cursed to stay in his wolf shape by a sadistic sorcerer, Kakashi is starting to have his doubts, honestly. Because being a werewolf wasn't bad in and of itself; that first year had actually been fine; he'd been stronger and faster and the only real drawback was that he turned into a giant-ass wolf for a few days of every month.

But being trapped in this shape _permanently_? Unable to talk or laugh or kiss someone or even _pick up a goddamn book_ because he has no opposable thumbs? It's depressing and infuriating by turns and Kakashi's not sure how much longer he can last before he just loses his mind completely.

_And all because I couldn't mind my own business_, he thinks. He'd heard of a sorcerer stirring up trouble in the heart of Fire Country, and being young, dumb, and overconfident he'd decided to go check out the situation for himself; he hadn't even bothered to wait for his friends to get back from their potion-brewing seminar in Tea Country.

(He can't help but wonder sometimes if Obito and Rin still miss him, if they're still looking for him. Some small bit of him is still holding out hope that through some miracle they might find him, but…

But it's been _years._ And given that Obito is a half-fae who specializes in green magick and Rin is a healing mage, he has to acknowledge that unless their skill-sets have changed dramatically since the last time he saw them, there's not much they could do about his current condition even if they _did_ find him.)

So now he's stuck as a hulking canine beast, wandering the haunted woods where he'd foolishly confronted the sorcerer.

He's about to return to his den for the night (because he might be a fearsome predator, but there are other darker things that prowl this forest in the dead of night that even he doesn't want to tangle with) when the sound of a twig breaking catches his attention. It's followed by the faint crunching of leaves, and-

Footsteps, he realizes. Coming towards him.

The smart thing to do would be to leave the area, retreat to his den as he'd planned.

But he hasn't seen another person in almost half a decade, and he's…curious.

A figure materializes out of the twilight gloom, slender but with an aura of power that makes Kakashi's ears prick up, intrigued. His first visual impression is pale skin and dark curly hair, and then they're stepping into a patch of moonlight that throws their features into sharp relief.

A young man with high cheekbones and a strong jawline, seemingly in his early twenties with a jagged scar across one eye. No older than Kakashi was when he first walked into this terrible forest, and he isn't sure if he's amused or weary at the realization.

Because this is no place for an attractive young man like that, especially not one with that low hum of magical power lurking beneath his skin; hungrier monsters than Kakashi will sense him before long, and then the forest will claim another victim.

So he stalks out of the shadows and growls, a warning to scare the fool off. _Go away_, the growl says. _Go away or die._

Except clearly the guy is an _idiot_, because he doesn't run. Doesn't even _flinch_, and Kakashi can't decide if that makes him brave or just stupid.

"Good evening," the young man says, looking thoroughly unconcerned at the presence of three-hundred pound wolf with dagger-sharp fangs as he brushes a lock of dark hair out of his face.

Kakashi deepens his growl a bit more, gives it an edge of menace as he prowls forward.

Then abruptly freezes as his gaze catches and holds with the young man's, a strange feeling rippling through him.

The young man halts in place as well, eyes widening. "A curse," he breathes out, and Kakashi doesn't have any idea how he can tell that with just a look into his eyes but it triggers a sharp spike of hope in his chest.

Because if this mage can see the curse, then maybe…_maybe_…

The man comes closer, power crackling in the air around him as he looks at Kakashi intently, gaze roving over him as if looking for something only he can see. "Who did this to you," he murmurs, mouth pulling down into a frown.

Kakashi is tempted to growl again, because even just _thinking_ about the asshole who did this to him is enough to make something wild and ferocious stir in his blood, but he swallows it down, determined not to spook the man in front of him.

(Because if the curse can be broken, that will change _everything_.)

Another step, and then the mage is close enough to touch. Which, Kakashi notes with surprise, he does; the young man reaches out a pale hand and runs slender fingers through Kakashi's thick fur before going very, very still.

"Danzō," he hisses, something very close to hate in his voice, and Kakashi feels the curse on him twinge as if it senses its maker's name. "Well, that's decided, then," the man goes on, his tone brusque even as determination shines in his eyes. "This curse needs to go."

And before Kakashi can do more than think _wait, what, it can't be that easy_, the man's eyes flare bright red in the darkness and the curse _burns_ under his skin, the pain of it hot and sharp before there's a sudden wrenching feeling and then it's just….gone.

He's still wearing his wolf shape, but it no longer feels like he's trapped in it like a straightjacket so he pulls on the kernel of power deep within his soul, that bright spark that feels like moonlight on a winter night, and _shifts_.

The change hurts at first, because he's no longer accustomed to the shift and his body's gotten used to the wolf shape, but he manages it, a feeling like euphoria clamoring through his body even as he topples forward towards the forest floor, not used to balancing on two legs anymore.

He's both surprised and not when the mage with eyes like fresh blood catches him before he hits the ground, apparently not bothered by the fact that Kakashi's stark naked and smells like wet dog. "Thank you," Kakashi says, voice cracking because he hasn't spoken to anyone in years. "Thank you," he says again, because he _can_ and because he means it.

(He's also shaking, fine tremors running through his entire body, but he doesn't even _care_ because he has a human body again and nothing can possibly take away from that victory.)

"You don't need to thank me," the other man says. "It was the right thing to do. Besides," he adds, something sharp creeping into his smile, "I'm more than happy to fuck up Danzō's plans whenever possible."

A sentiment Kakashi can support wholeheartedly on general principle, although he can't help but notice that angry edge in the other man's voice, the edge that speaks to a more personal sort of fury. "He did something to you, too," Kakashi says hoarsely, and it's not a question.

"Nothing much," the mage replies, an undercurrent of something dark beneath his light tone. "Just tried to take one of my eyes to use for some sort of summoning ritual. A murder attempt might also have been involved," he adds with a smirk.

"Well, I'm glad he failed," Kakashi says, because his curse has been lifted, he's _free_, and it was the man holding him who'd done it.

"Me, too," the mage responds cheerfully. "I'm Shisui, by the way."

"Kakashi," he offers in return, then asks, "What now?"

Shisui gives a considering hum, expression both thoughtful and wicked. "Well, my original plan was to track down Danzō and hex him into oblivion. Alternatively, tear him into pieces; I haven't quite decided on which yet."

"That sounds like an excellent idea," Kakashi agrees. "Want some company?"

Shisui looks startled for a moment, then gives a slow smile. "I certainly wouldn't object," he replies.

"Good," Kakashi says with an answering grin, "because I'm going with you." Then he leans in and presses a kiss to Shisui's mouth, because Shisui is the perfect combination of ridiculously powerful and ridiculously cute and because he _can_.

(Kakashi is out of practice with kissing, but if the enthusiasm of Shisui's return kiss is anything to go by he's not _too_ terrible at it. At the very least, neither of them are inclined to stop, and Kakashi's content to count that as another victory.)


End file.
